Disclosed herein is a multi-level programmable alerting system. A preferred multi-level programmable alerting system is a system for detecting and alerting an angler that fish are nibbling, biting, and/or striking.
The history of fishing dates back to ancient man. In fact, fishing was a major source of food for ancient man. For example, isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of the Tianyuan man, a 40,000 year old human from eastern Asia, showed that he regularly consumed freshwater fish. Another example is that, to catch their fish, ancient Egyptian fishermen fished both from the shore and from reed boats, using woven nets, weir baskets made from willow branches, and harpoons. By the 12th dynasty (1991-1778 B.C.), Egyptian fishermen were even using metal hooks with barbs. Yet another example of ancient fishermen is the Greco-Roman sea fishermen who were described in Oppian's Halieutica, a poem written around A.D. 180.
Nowadays, fishing is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United States, with more than 55 million Americans taking at least one fishing trip in 2013, according to Statista, the Statistics Portal. The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the trade association that represents the sport fishing industry, released a study in January 2013 that reported that fishing's annual economic impact was $115 billion, with fishing supporting more than 828,000 jobs and generating $35 billion in wages and $15 billion in federal and state taxes.
The popularity of recreational fishing may be due, in part, to the fact that it can be done anywhere, at anytime, and by virtually anyone. An angler or a fisherman (the two terms are used synonymously herein) might fish from a boat, a dock, a beach, the bank of a river or lake, and/or from other prime fishing spots. Anglers can fish at night or during the day. Anglers can fish in the ocean, in rivers, in creeks, in lakes, and in streams. Some anglers fish when the water is smooth, some anglers fish when the water is choppy, and ice anglers fish when a lake is frozen over.
Pole fishing takes a lot of time and patience to wait for a fish to nibble the hook. Anglers, therefore, enjoy reading a book, playing games (e.g. chess, poker, cribbage, or other kinds of games) with fellow angler friends, solving a crossword puzzle, or participating in other activities. But sometimes an angler wants to take a walk, take a nap, or needs to use the facilities. But if an angler's eyes aren't on the fishing pole to observe the light nibble that would signal a fish on the line, he might miss the nibble, and miss the fish.
Many products have been developed to help signal anglers when they have a fish on the line. Early auditory alerting systems may have been a simple bell tied to the end of a pole that rang when the pole vibrated. Early visual alerting systems may have been bobbers that dipped down when a fish moved the hook and bait. Additional alerting systems are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,251 to Snider et al. (the “Snider reference”), Japanese Patent No. 401296932A to Hiruko et al. (the “Hiruko reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,532 to Shaffer et al. (the “Shaffer reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,488 to Canepa (the “Canepa reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,573 to Flores, (the “Flores reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,483 to Reams (the “Reams reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,812 to Johnson (the “Johnson reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,121 to Gonzales (the “Gonzales reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,441 to Dirito (the “Dirito reference”), European Patent Application No. EP1611787A1 to Priednieks (the “Priednieks reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,140 to Rozkowski (the “Rozkowski reference”), U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0066367 to Meeks et al. (the “Meeks reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 7,523,882 to Priednieks (the “'882 reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,488 to Perkins et al. (the “Perkins '488 reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,531 to Kirby (the “Kirby reference”), U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0061287 to Ogawa (the “Ogawa reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,338 to Hope (the “Hope reference”), U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,343 to Carignan et al. (the “Carignan reference”), and U.S. Pat. No. 8,464,461 to Perkins et al. (the “Perkins '461 reference”).